Despatch or conveyer system.



c. 3. JENNINGS.- DESPATCH 0R CONVEYER SYSTEM,

APPLICATION HLED FEB. 27, 1913.

' Patented June 22, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHEET L x WITNESSES.-

' part hereof and in which like reference- ICE.

CHESTER S. JENiNIIfl'GS, 015 BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THELAMSON COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CGRPORALION OF NEW JERSEY.

DESPATCK'OR GONVEYER SYSTEM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

* Application flied February 27, 1 9153. Serial No. 750,941.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHESTER S. JENNINGS,

of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and Corn monwealth of Massachusetts,have invented certain new and 'useful Improvements in Despatch orConveyor Systems, of which the following is a specification.-

This invention relates to despatch or conveyer systems and has for oneof its principal objects the provision of means in connection with asuitable conveying apparatus for insuring the delivery of valuablematerial, 6. 9., paper for bonds, bills and the like, jewelry, etc, fromadetermined place or station to a definite person and to no other.

My invention further contemplates; the provision of means for recordingor indicat ing successively the advance of the material toward the pointto which it is despatched and indeed to preferably permit the sender tocontrol this movement by stopping the material en route at a convenientpoint or points and rendering its further advance subject or partlysubject to the control of the sender, although the latter may be locatedat a relatively considerable distance from such a stopping point.

These and other objects of my invention will be hereafter referred toand the novel combinations of elements whereby'they may be attained willbe more particularly pointed out in the appending claims.

I am aw are'th at various changes, omissions, substitutions andmodifications may be made in the apparatus or system herein described byway of exemplification without departing from the spirit of my inventionand I hence desire to be limited only by the scope of said claims.

Referring to the drawings, which form a characters designate like partsthrough the several views, I have shown my signaling, recording andcontrol features as applied to a tray conveyer system, to, which theyare especially well adapted.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a plan view of a portion of the main lineof a tray conveyer, showing one of the switches thereof, a branchleading therefrom, and atray delivering apparatus, the operation ofwhich afl'o1ds the requisite control of the despatched material, by thesender. Fig. 2-is a vertical section taken on line II--II of Fig. 1.Fig. 3 is a section taken on line III-III of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a detailfront elevation of said delivery apparatus. Fig.5 is a vertical detailsection of said apparatus taken on line VV of Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a wiringdiagram of the signaling, recording and certain of the control elementsof the system. Fig. 7 is a detail of'a key operated switch. Fig. 8 is aside elevation of the same. Fig. 9 is a detail of a solenoid operatedannunciator used in the apparatus shown by way of exemplification; Fig.10 is an end view of a tray With-its deflecting pin in position thereon.

The tray conveyor proper preferably comprises a main section 1 and aplurality of branch sect1ons2 but for convemence'of illustration, onlyone such branch section has been shown, together with the switch 3 whichdelivers the trays thereto. In the conveyer, the main section 1consists-of a framework 4, a belt 5, rolls 6 which support said belt ina known manner, and other parts not shown which are commonly used fordriving such a conveyer.

The tray carrying portion of the belt is driven in the direction of thearrows indicated thereon and the framework includes provisions forguiding the trays 7 as the tially invariably be shunted off toward acorresponding delivery mechanism, or said pin may obviously be madeadjustable laterally avith respect to the tray so that the pin may ,beset to deliver the tray to any station desired. In the constructionshown, the pin 10 of the tray 7 will engage the switch 3 upon the lefthand side thereof, facing in the diection in which the tray istraveling, and

the front end of the tray will be swung around by the arcuately shapedswitching element until the tray leaves the belt and rolls downtheslightly inclined-branch sec- 5 'tion 2; the latter preferably beingprovided with a plurality of rolls 11 and lateral guides 12. 4 It willbe noted that the tray advances through the branch section substantiallyat right angles to its previous course of travel and that it ultimatelycomes to rest u on i the outer extremity of this section the orward sideof'the tray abutting against a movable stop or pin 13. The pin 13 ispiv- 5 otally connected to the arm 14 of a bell crank, broadly.designated 15: and is normally held inits tray obstructing position bymeans of a spring 16, or the like. When the pin 13 is drawn down, out ofthe path of the trays; in the manner hereinafter described, the tray,which would otherwise move into or remain in engagement with said pin,,is free to roll by gravity from the branch section on to a loweringplatforml'i. 5 This platform may also be provided with rollers 11 tofacilitate the emplacement of the tray in proper position thereon andits subsequent removal therefrom, by gravity. The platform 17 ispreferably supported by a bail 18 to which is secured one end of a wirerope 19, or the like, as shown in Fig. 5 3. This rope is, passed arounda pulley 20 carried by a bracket 21 which is secured to one of a pairof, in this case, pendant standards 22-22. Within the standard 22,

which is simply a tube of large diameter, is disposed a suitablecounter-weight 23. When the platform or support 17 is unloaded and isnot otherwise held or latched-in its lower position, in the mannerhereinafter described, the counter-weight 23 will elevate and hold theplatform 17 in the position in "which'it is shown in Fig. 4. As theplatform 17 is thus in the act of being raised by its counterweight, apivoted trip 24 carried upon the rear, lower edge thereof, engages theshort arm 25*,of the crank 15 abovereferred to and rocks' said crankcounten" clockwise as viewed in Fig. 4, whereby. to withdraw the pin 13from the pathlof the a tray 7'-which.is in engagement therewith; leavingthe tray free to descend by gravity on to the surface of theplatfornrli.

' A stop '26 pivoted at 27 .to the sidewalls the tray or platforml? isheld in its tray obstructing position through-the instr mem tality'of aspring 28 and the descending tray engages this stop and is thereby heldagainst I further downward and lateral displacement 69 untilthe stop ismoved out of the way in the manner, hereinafter deficrihed. -The branch2 in theapparatus given vby way of exem pli'fication, is ofg'lll'llclilt length to provide space for twotrays in addition-to theone which has th us passed on to the platform 17 i Suitable contactdevices are provided at spaced intervals along the length, of. thebranch section and upon the tray or platform 17, whereby toclose certaincircuits to'notify the operator stationed at the send ing shelf 8 of thearrival of the trays, the first upon platform 17the second in thepositionindicated by the tray immediately there-behind, as viewed inFigs. 1' and 4,

and-the thirdin the space, shown as unoccupied in Fig. 1, immediately tothe rear of the second tray. The first tray, by its movement 'down on tothe platform 17,

moves the platform carried contact, designated 29, into bridgingengagement with contacts 30 and 31, whereby to close circuit across saidlast mentioned contacts. This bridge contact is normally held out of'eni gagement withcontacts 30 and '31 by means of a light spring 32; butthe upwardly projecting actuating finger or arm 29 of said contact, byreason of its engagement with the bottom of the tray, swings the contact29 into engagement with contacts 30 and 31,

in manner aforesaid. In like fashion, a sectacts 37 and 38. Referringnow to Fig. 6, these several setsof contacts have been dia grammaticallyindicated'in the upper left hand portion of said figure and, upon theclosure of the circu t across 37-38, current flows from the positivelead 39 to the wire 40, through the signal light or lamp =l1-and thenceto the negative lead, 42. The lamp 41, together with certain othersignaling devices, hereinafter referred to, is mounte upon a board 43,located adjacent the sending shelf 8. The lighting up of lamp- 41accordingly, notifies the operator stationed at the sending shelf that atray has passed or is in contact with the'actuating arm of the bridge36. Similarly, as said tray moves down sothatit closes contact across 34and 35, a second light 44 is energized, current flowing from 39 to 34,33 and 35, to a wire 45, through the lamp 44 and thence out to thenegative lead 42. When a tray is in place upon the platform.17, currentflows from 39 through contacts 30, .29 and 31,

wire 46, lamp 47, and thence tolthe lead 42,

above referred to. If lamp 47 be lighted", the

- sender knowsthat a tray is in position upon the delivering platform 17and ordinarily it will be his duty to forward two additional trays tothis station so that there need. be no loss of time should more than oneworkman desiretdohtainlartray full .of material at this point orstation. Accordingly, when lamp 41 goes ''u'tf'the sender is made awarethereby, of the necessity for forwarding a trayto this station and there-lighting of said lamp 41 togetherwithlamps 44 and 47 serves to advisehim that the proper number of filled trays is located at the station.

Upon the side of the tray-delivering apparatus, broadly designated 48and of which the platform l7"f'orms an important ele other designatingsymbol, and let us assume that a desires material. He accordingly swingsthe poin er .50 so that it is directed toward the pr per lock cylinderor key switch which a key in his possession is adapted to actuate. Eachman in the establ'ishment will be provided with a key which is differentfrom that in the possession of any other workman so that he, and healone, will be able to operate a particular switch. The pointer 50 isattachedto a plate 50' below the dial 49, and plate 50 has but oneaperture 51 therein which may, however, be

brought into registry, by means of the pointer, with any one of theapertures 52 in the disk 49. The foregoing provision prevents more thanone operative inserting his key in the switch at any one time.

As shown inFig. 6 one of the key switches n shown in its inoperativeposition and,

hence, no current is flowing therethrcugh. 'Wlen, however, a key fittingthis particular switch is inserted intothe keyhole 53 and said key isrotated through 90 until the keyhole is disposed as shown in Fig. 7, theswitch parts become operative'to close the following circuits. Currentflows from lead 39, through wire 54, to the switch contact 55, acrosstheblade 56 to contacts 57 and 57. The former of these is connected to awire 58 and the latter to a wire Current is, at such time, free to flowthrough wire 58 to and through a lampGO and wire 61 which. in turn,delivers to the negative lead 42' The energization of lamp gives noticeto 'tllQ attendant statibned adjacent the sending shelf that the workmanwho is designated a desires material. Thereupon he presses the button 62which allows current to flow from contact 57, through wire 59 to wireSaid current then passes through an electromagnetic device 64, wire- 65and contacts controlled by the button 62, and through a wire .66, to thenegative lead\42.

The device 64, just referred to, may comprise a, solenoid'or the likewhich operates a latch or movable stop 67. .The latter is pivoted. at68to a portion of a casing of the apparatus 64 and its free extremity isnormally disposed in such position as to hinder a downward movement ofthe platform 17 when a tray 7 is delivered thereupon; suchdownwardimovernent being otherwise possible owing to the fact that thecounterweight 23 is, at such time, overba'lanced.

Theoperatidn of the device 64, hence, withdraws the latch 67 from thepath of the platform, and the latter, together with thetray carriedthereupon, descends by gravity. I

particularly desire to direct attention, however, to, the fact that thesender cannot-so cause a tray to descendafter it has been delivered tothe platform 17, until one of the four werkmen, who obtain material fromthis delivering apparatus, has indicated his desire for the delivery ofa tray full ofana terial by inserting his key into the proper lockcylinder. correspondingly, if workman 6 desires material, upon theinsertion of his key into the proper keyhole, and the rotation thereofin like fashion, lamp 69 will be lighted and a-pressure of button 62will, thereupon, suffice to elfect the delivery the next tray.

As the several circuits controlled keys cl Z), c and (Z are allsubstantially the same, it has been thought unnecessary to trait eachand every one through in detail. Suflice it to say, therefore, that lampG0 is controlled, in the manner aforesaid, from key switch a; lamp 69from key switch 7); lamp 70 from key switch 0, and lamp 71 from keyswitch (Z. The key switch, as indicated in Fig. 2,

comprises two blades, an upper blade 55,

above referred to, and a second or lower blade 72. V hen the switch isoperatively disposed by its key, in themanner above described, the lowerblade 72 will, at such time, connect a pair of contacts 7374., re-

spectively connected to wires 75 and 76.

The platform 17 carries upon its under surface a contact 77 which isadapted for engagement with a spring contact 78 and. hence, when theplatform is descending it momentarily permits current to flow from lead39 through a wire 79, to said contact 78; thence through contact 77 to awire 80,

which latter is in each case in electrical connection with the wire ofeach key switch .which corresponds to wire 75 of the key switch to wit,wire 75" of switch Z). etc. Since at such time, contacts 73 and 74 of,let us say, switch a are in electrical communication, said current willflow through wire 76 to a point 81' whereat the circuit is needle orother suitable marking or impressing device a; the current thereafterpassing through a wire 84: to a common return wire 85 which unites withthe wire 83 above referred to, and the current flowing from both ofthese wires, passes through a signal lamp 86 and from thenceout throughthe negative lead 42.

electromagneticapparatus a and the apparatus 1), a and (if which arecorres on ingly actuatedibydescent of the platorm when a givenkeyswitchb, c, or d has "beenwturn'ed, is preferably inclosed withinthebottom of a time clock 87. Withinthis clock is a suitable mechanism,not shown,

for rotating a roll '88 uponwhich may be placed a lined paper, tape orstrip,' or other suitable medium adapted for recording purposes, saidstrip or roll being steadily moved by the clockwork in a well knownmanner in consonance with the clock mechanism proper. It has not beenthought necessary to go into details of construction of such anapparatus as they are in common use. Sufiice it to say that a mechanismof this description is admirably a apted for use in connection with mysyste and it is believed that a sufiic'ient showing thereof has beenmade to render its use readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Themomehtary eneugization of the circuit just de scribed causes the'needleor pencil a? to be lifted into engagement with the paper or roll 88 sothat the time that the workman, whose designating symbol is a, obtains atray full of material is'definitely and accurately recorded. Furthermorethe number of trays which each and every workman obtains in the-"courseof a day and the period within which such materialis consumed or used upis quite definitely indicated upon the roll or paper strip, since one ofthe mechanisms a,

, e'tc., corresponds to each ofj the switches a, 1), etc. Lamp 86 willlight every time that contact 77 passes contact/78' when the platform isdescending, and the W111 serve to direct the attention of the bperativestationed at the sending shelf to the fact that material is beingproperly delivered to one of the-workmen who obtains material from thedelivering apparatus which corresponds to board 43; while the drop ofthean nunciator flap serves to inform the sender past which workman isobtaining the material and confirms the previous lighting of theparticular lamp 6069, etc., which corresponds to the workman.

The preferred construction, of annunciatorhas been diagrammaticallyindicated in Fig. 9 where the annunciator 81, for example, co rises asolenoid 89, the core 90 of which may. be elevated to thereby lift anextension 90'- of said core, which in turn raises a latch 91 which holdsthe flap 92 in its upper position. When, therefore, solenoid 89 is en-'ergized, flap 92 is unlatchedand drops by gravity exposing the letter orsymbol thereupon or therebehind, in a lmown'manher. After the sender hasmade note of the fact that workman a, for example, is obtainingmaterial, he reiilevates the'fiap 92 which will thereupon be reengagedby the latch 91 only .tobe released when this same workman again;obtains a tray of material. As the several eireuits which operate the.respective annunciator drops are all substantially the same as that justdes'cribed,it hasnot been thought necessary to describe each in'detail.

Sufiice it to say' that current flows in each' case from wire 80 throughthe particular switch element or blade 72 involved, and thence throughthe wire leading from each key switch which corresponds to wire 76 justdescribed? A- portion of such current,

thereupomefi'ects the actuation of the corresponding indicator drop 81,81", 81 01181, while another portion ofthe current energizcs'the'c'orresponding apparatusa, b, 0'," (1, Thus, of 88 be a slip of paperwhich is steadily advanced over the needles a", b", ctc.,'and whichpaper has thereon marks corresponding to the time of day at which themarked portions of the paper pass over said needles, the descent of theplatform 17 willjcause the paper to be perforated in the portion thereofwhich corresponds to' a given operative or workman and the line of thepaper will indicate just what time suchworkman obtained his material,

its

The under side of the platformd'icarriesa hook 93 which is adapted forengagement. with a latch 94; the latter being normally held in itslatching position byqneans' of a spring 95 asindicated in F 2., Than theplatform 17 is in its lowermostposition,the latch 94. is normally inengagement with the hook 93 so that even after a tray 7 has been removedfrom this platform, said platform cannot rise; under the action of itscounters I weight 23 untillatch 94 has been moved to, l its unlatchingposition.

'vided with a depending arm 96 which isswung clockwise. as viewed inFigs. 2 aud t,

, l i The stop 26, previously mentioned, is proto the under side of theextension 99, to the right; lever 101 is connected by means of a link103 with the said latch 94:; so that the 1 with a resume of theoperation of the device as a 'whole. Assuming the conveyers to be atmoment. that the tray has substantially come to rest at a point wherethe operative or workman may have access thereto, the

now unloaded platform will be released and its counter-weight 23 willthereupon immediately eifect the re-ascension of said plat form to aposition where it may receive the next succeeding tray. In so ascending,the short arm 25 of the bell crank 15 will again be engagedby thepivoted trip 24 to move the pin 13 out of the path of such succeedingtray, in the manner above described. It may be here noted also that whenthe platform 17 is descending this trip 24. can not operatively engage.the arm 25, by reason of its pivotal mounting. The member 24 0fcoursehas a bias for the position in whichit' is shown in Fig. 5.

As ihdicated in Fig. 2, the tray-conveying apparatus may be completelycovered at substantially all points thereof by wire netting 104, or thelike, so that unauthorized persons can not gain access to the materialin transit. For convenience I append here rest and that the operativesare about to start forthe day. The belt conveyers are started and theattendant in the issuing room 6. g.,' at or adjacent the sending shelf8, places trays on the belt for each delivery station to which it isdesired -to send trays. The trays are automatically switched ofi on tothe branch sections which lead to the i espective delivering stations.As a tray slides into position on the lowering platform it closes thecircuit which energizes the signal lamp-4'7 (having previously, ofcourse, momentarily, energized lamps 41 and 44) which indicatesto thesender in the issuing reom that a tray is inposition andready fordelivery; The second tray to be delivered to this station is similarlyswitched from the I) l1. and takes up a position just outside of thetray lowering mechanism. This second tray, correspondingly, causes theenergiza- .tion' .of lamp 44. Finally, the third tray as the third. traymoves into engagement with the one immediately in advance.

Let us assume that the material is being used by pressmen and that oneof these workmen now desires material. He rotates circuit across 7778and records a mark or punch upon the clockwork driven roll or I strip88, at a point thereon which corresponds to this particular workman,while at the same time the annunciator drop 81 becomes operative. Theplatform descends to itslowermost position and automatically the latchor stop which holds the tray in place thereon, is withdrawn from itsoperative po sition and said tray rolls, by gravity, down on to thedelivery shelf. As the tray'comes to rest upon this shelf it releasesthe platform which, being underbalanced, promptly ascends, it will benoted that when the platform is not in its up position, signal lamp 86will be lighted. As the trays are successively delivered on to thedelivery shelf, the'several signal lamps 41, 4A and 47 successively goout and the operative. in the issuing room notes a delivery of thesetrays and despatches others to take their place. In general, it will beseen that the entire system is so devised that no single workman oroperative can unaidedly obtain a tray full of material from the sendingstation or shelf and that not even the operative stationed at this pointcan deliver a tray full of material toany point where access may be hadth etc; without the assistance of the workman stationed at or adjacentthis point.

made.

It is believed that the system renders the delivery of material from agiven sending station to some particular point or station,

practically proof against fraud or connivance without such connivancespeedily be coming apparent. The system 18 hence particularly adaptedfor use in banks, mints,

large jewelry establishments and other places where valuable materialmust be handled by a number of workmenand the system does away with thenecessity for any personal delivery, by hand, of such material to anygiven workman. It is obvious too, that the system adapts itscllito verylarge establishments where a considerable number of delivering stationsare provided such, for example, as that indicated; each of thesestations, if desired, delivering I claim is 1. hi a delivery'system, aplurality of stations including a sending station and a deliveringstation, means forc'onveying material from the first toward the secondstation, provisions for preventing access to said material while intransit, and co-acting means, jointly controlled from a plurality ofsaid stations and inoperative from a single one of said stationsalone,for affording access to said material at said delivering sta tion.

2. In a delivery system, a plurality of stations including a sendingstation and a delivering station, the latter adapted to serve aplurality of operatives, means for conveying material from the 'endingtoward the delivering station, provisions for preventing access to saidmaterial vwhile in transit, and co-acting means, having portions thereofdisposed at and jointly controlled from said delivering station and fromone other of said plurality of stations and inoperative from eitherpfsaid two last mentioned stations alone, for. affording access to saidmaterial at said delivering station, said system further comprisingmeans for rendering evident when said co-acting means is so operated,which ofsaid plurality of operatives actuated the portion of saidco-acting means disposed at said delivering station.

3. In a delivery system, a sending station anda delivering station,means fdr conveying material from said sending station to saiddelivering station, means for stopping said material while in transit,and co-acting means requiring joint operation from said sending anddelivering station for controlling-the advance thereafter of the sostopped material, toward a delivery point at said delivering station.

4. In a delivery system, a sending station, a delivering station, aplurality of trays, a conveyor for transmitting said traysfrom saidsending station toward said delivering station, means for stopping theadvance of said trays, means for rendering evident the stoppage" of saidtrays to a person at said sending station, and means controlled jointlyfrom both of-said stations for controlling the advance thereafter ,ot'the so stoppedinateriitl toward a delivery point at said deliveringstation.

5. In a delivery system, a sending station, at delivering station, aplurality oi receptacles, means for transmitting said receptacles fromsaid sending station generally toward said delivering station means fordiverting a receptacle from the path in which it has been travelingsubstantially directly toward said station-,means for checking tl eonward progressof the so diverted messes ceptacles, means, including agravity conveyer, for transmitting said receptacles from said sendingstation toward said delivering station, means for stopping the advanceof said receptacles, and means a delivery point at said deliveringstation.

7. Inamlelivery system, a sending station,

a deliveringmtation, a plurality of receptacles, means for transmitt ngsaid receptaclesfromsaid sending statiofitoward said delivering station,means for stopping the advance of said receptacle, and means controlledjointly and non-severally from both of said stations for controlling theadvance thereafter of the so stopped receptacles toward a delivery pointat said delivering station. j

8. In a delivery system, a delivering station, a conveying apparatusfor. delivering material thereto, said apparatus provided, however, withmeans for preventing inadvertent delivery of said material at saidstation, and means, jointly controlledand only jointly controlled from aplurality of relatively remote points, for controlling said delivery ofmaterial to said station.

9. -In a delivery system, a delivering sta tion, a. conveying apparatusfor delivering material thereto, said apparatus comprising a pluralityof trays into which saidmaterial may he placed and provided with meansfor preventing inadvertent delivery of said trays at said station, andmeans, of necessity jointly controlled from a plurality of relativelyremote points, for controlling the delivery of said trays at saidstation.

10. In a delivery system, a delivering station, a conveying apparatusfordelivering material thereto, said apparatus comprising a plurality oftrays into which said matecontrolled I jointly and non-severally fromboth of said stations for controlling the advance thereafterpf the sostopped receptacles toward.

rial may be placed and provided with means for preventing inadvertentdelivery of said trays at said station, and means, of necessity jointlycontrolled from said station and from a point relatively remotetherefrom,

for controlling the delivery of said trays. at I said station.

'111. In a'delivery system, the combination of a sending station and aconveyer having switching parts and branch sections-leading from saidparts, with a plurality of receptacles, one of said branchsectionsadapted to accommodate a plurality oztsaid receptacles,

of. a conveyor,

1,142.,see

means for indicating the presence of receptacles in said last mentionedbranch section, meansfor delivering receptacles one at a time from saidb'anch section, and means forcontrolling said delivering means in partfrom said sending stationand in part from a point adjacent saiddelivering means.

12. -In a delivery system, of a conveyer, a delivering apparatus adapted to receive material from said conve or,

and means for controlling said apparatus jointly, and jointly only, fromtwo relatively Widely separated points.

18. In a delivery system, the combination a delivering apparatuscomprising a platform movable substantially at right angles to the lineof travel of said conveyor, said platform adapted toreceive but alimited quantity of material from said conveyor at any one time, andmeans for controlling said apparatus jointly, and jointly only, from twospaced points for delivering said material from said platform as desiredby operatives stationed at said points. I

14.. In a delivery system, the combination of av conveyor. a deliveringappar: tus comprising a reciprocably mounted platform adapted to receivebut a limited quantity of material from said conveyor at any one time,and means for. controlling said apparatus jointly, and jointly only,from two spaced points for delivering said material from said platformas desired lay-{operatives stationed at said points.

15. In a, delivery system, the combination of a tray convcyer, adelivering appa utus comprising a platform adapted for the reception oftrays from said conveyer, means for preventing the passage of trays fromsaid conveyor to said platform when the latter is in other than itsrtray receiving position, said platform having a bias for one positionwhen loaded and having a bias for a second position when unloaded, andmeans for controlling :n'iovemc'nts of said platform.

1G. in a delivery system, the combination of a tray conveyor, :1delivering apparatus coniprising a platform adapted. for the receptionof trays from said conveyor, means for preventing the passage of traysfronr said conveyor to said platform when the latter is in other thanits tray receiving position, said platform having a bias for oneposition when loaded and having a bias fora second position when.unloaded, and auto matic means for causing said platform to unload whenin said first position.

iii. in a delivery system, the combination of a tray ronvcyer, atdelivering apparatus comprising a platform adapted for the re- \eptlonof trays from said conveyor, means for preventing the pass go of traysfrom said conveyor to said platform when the llilr tor is in other thanits tray receiving posithe combination operable by but one tion, saidplatform having a bias for one position when loaded. and having a biasfor a'second position when unloaded. means for :ausing said platform tounload when in said first position. means for holding said platform insaid first position when moved thereinto, and means, actuablerby saidunloading operation, for releasing said plat form. V

18. In a delivery system. the combination of a tray conveyor, adelivering apparatus comprising a platform adapted for the reception oftrays from said eonveyer, means substantially independent of thecon'veyer for controlling the delivery of trays from said platform, andmeans for recording the time of the delivery of trays by said apparatus.

19. In a delivery system, the combination i one of said mechanisms whichmay have been actuated by one of said persons, for rendering evident atadetermincd place, the deliveryof atray to such particular person.

20. In a delivery system, the combination of a tray conveyer, adelivering apparatus adapted to receive trays from said conveyer, meansfor controlling said delivering apparatus. said means comprising aplurality of individual mechanisms eachnormally operable by but one of aplurality ofpersons receiving trays from said apparatus, and means.co-acting with the particular one of said mechanisms which may have beenactuated by one of said persons, for recording the delivery of a tray tosuch particular person and the time of such delivery.

21. In a delivery system, the combination of a tray conveyer, adelivering apparatus adapted to receive trays from said conveyer, meansfor controlling said delivering apparatus. said means comprising aplurality of individual mechanisms each normally of a plurality ofpersons receiving trays from saidapparatus, meaps co-acting with theparticular one. of said mechanisms which may have been actuated by oneof said persons, for rendering evident at a determined place, thedelivery of a and means tray to such particular person, for preventingmore than one of said mechanisms being actuated at any one time.

32. In a delivery system, the combination of a convever, a deliveringapparatus adaptcd to receive material from said conveyor,

and means for controlling said apparatus jointly, and jointly only, froma of relatively widely separated pomts.

plurality Ina delivery system, the combination In testimony whereof Ihave aflixed my I of a ofonveyer, means for delivering materialsignature in the presence of two witnesses. there rem electrical'meansfor controlling said deliver-in 'means jointly, and jointly I CHESTERJENNINGS 5 only, from 'a p nrality of spaced controlling Witnesses:

points, and electrical connections between L. C. BUTLER, said points andsaid delivering means. M. KOCH.

